Jul82014

Part tutorial. Part infographic. And part animated GIF. Animagraffs. It’s the name Jacob O’Neal assigned to the animated infographics he began working on in 2012. When he told us that he used Creative Cloud, we wanted to know more so we caught up with him to ask about his concept, his tools, and his process.

Jacob talked to us about his toughest critics, making (some) decisions based on art rather than function, how creativity is fueled by excitement and wonder, and, of course, the beauty of Creative Cloud.

You’re a designer, so designing information probably comes naturally to you, but where did this idea originate? Was it an offshoot of another project? I’ve always been fascinated by animation. I used to draw entire flip-book scenes in the margins of old paperbacks or on sticky note pads. I’ve also always loved optical illusions and visual tricks that appear simple yet manage to boggle the mind.

A couple of years ago I began to see entire movie clips, in animated GIF format, being shared all over the web. While I had seen very simple usage of animated infographics in the wild, I hadn’t seen anything on the scale of Animagraffs.

It seemed like a fitting challenge: Could I make a meaningful infographic within a limited image format as the endlessly looping animated GIF? I had a lull in projects for month or so when I decided to make the first Animagraff. As a freelancer I try to keep a nice savings cushion since things can fluctuate, but even so, when there’s a lull I get antsy. There was a strong temptation to seek out the same old easily-procured but passionless work that “pays the bills.” But creativity is fueled by excitement and wonder and mechanically “paying the bills” is neither of those. I remember distinctly the moment I chose to act based on courage and create a passion project, not knowing what the result would be, or if I’d ever see money from it.

Quite frankly, I have no idea why I was an “early adopter” of the animated GIF infographic; the technology’s been there all along, and there are many, many brilliant designers out there who could pull it off. Stroke of good luck maybe?

What was your first topic? How has your process evolved since that first piece? The first animated graphic I did was Cheetah: Nature’s Speed Machine I just wanted to test out the limits of what could be done, and I was still a little intimidated by learning 3D software, so I made a flat graphic (non 3D). I sketched the main cheetah illustration in Illustrator and the animated graphs and lines in Flash. My process is still very similar, but now I have a better idea of what kind of illustrations fit the GIF format best. Some things just look gimmicky in an endlessly looping image and other elements really shine.

Who was your first Animagraff client? The first glimmer of a “result” I saw was an offer to work on a Super Bowl commercial project for Skechers. Their agency saw my Cheetah graphic and called me directly, offering a tidy sum to work on a project I would never have dreamed about before. Getting the motivation to make Animagraffs became a lot easier after that!

GIFs are for fun. Infographics are (mostly) for dispelling information. Beyond being cool viewing, Animagraffs have to strike that fine balance between entertainment and information. How much time do you spend getting that balance right? With my Animagraffs, the education IS the entertainment. That’s the whole point. I “came up” in the marketing world where the cart is perpetually before the horse—where everyone fearfully worries about “the results” and focuses all energy on hype instead of caring for the heart and soul of the project itself (hypnotizing entertainment without substance).

I decided to do everything the opposite of what I experienced working for marketing agencies. The product should “sell” itself through its quality. All I have to do is focus inward, and the outward results follow. Not the other way around. Animagraffs entertain to the exact degree of sincerity, hard work, and the quality of research I put into them. There’s no room for any kind of trickery, hype or fine print.

Infographics are compressed information distilled into easy-to-read bits. How many “pages” of content does each Animagraff contain? I go until the subject has been covered. I try to avoid disputable elements that might be distracting while still going deep enough to educate. The time involved varies but in general Animagraffs take anywhere from 20- to 80-hours of solid research, writing and design.

At what point do design decisions (type, color, layout) factor in? Animagraffs, especially my 3D projects, have a propensity to be manual-like. It’s actually difficult at times to make things original and fresh while maintaining a comfortably readable graphic. I’m an artist at heart, not an engineer, so I try to stay abreast of current design trends, and I make some decisions based more on art than function (though that line is hair thin). Decisions support the subject matter as far as possible. For the How A Car Engine Works graphic, for example, I used a typeface for the main titles that has strong automotive ties.

With animated infographics, you’re basically designing in layers. How does that make you job easier or harder? One-second decisions at the beginning of a project become two-day fixes at the end. The more intricate the assembly, the more critical it is to get things as right as possible from the start. By the time an Animagraff is compressed into its final GIF form, it’s traveled through two or three different software applications. At that point, fixing a misplaced apostrophe could take ten minutes as opposed to a mere keystroke while the script was in a text editor. I suppose it makes the job harder to have to design things in layers, but then, the difficulty of producing Animgraffs means I’ll have a little less competition in the field—I can’t complain about that.

Do you have a “test audience”? A person or people who try to learn something from your content? I’m passionate about my interests and hobbies and I assume others are as well. It’s unfortunate when an entity misrepresents something you know and care about. Since the public at large is unaware of inaccuracies on most subjects, it’s tempting to disregard small groups of highly devoted fans. But there’s incredible power in gaining the loyalty of those who won’t be fooled, who don’t click on every trifling bit of online clickbait, who seek out the highest quality information. When they share your work it’s often to their esteemed colleagues, and then you find yourself getting the kind of front-row attention money can’t buy. My Car Engine graphic was featured as a blog post on the New York Times Autoblog and Jalopnik.

So, my test audience is the toughest of critics—when researching a graphic I tend to post it to forums or other specific places where the most educated disciples of any given subject are prone to congregate.

How a Handgun Works: 1911 .45 is a good example: I’ve been continually flattered by the many messages of thanks from gun enthusiasts, law enforcement personnel, gun instructors, and other professionals. These people are far more conversant with guns than I, and they’re actually using this graphic as an educational asset. However, I’ve also received harsh feedback about its inaccuracies. I have to take it all in stride because, even though I consider it my duty to try, there would be no end in attempting to satisfy the core disciples.

You mentioned that you use Creative Cloud apps almost start to finish. Briefly walk us through your process. I begin in a simple text editor, pasting research from all over the Internet with links to sources. With that file open, I create a new document by its side to write the script. The script condenses all the fragmented information into a compelling story in which every sentence is as efficient as possible with no wasted words.

If the project uses a 3D model, I begin modeling at this point, with research imagery and text all prepared. I use Blender 3D (which I’ve really enjoyed learning) to craft my own models; I’ve been temped at times to download ready-made assets, but that would hobble progress the day I want to do a subject for which I can’t find suitable models. Also, for education it’s best to have simple models without all the indents, holes and pipes, of actual mechanical objects. So I craft everything from scratch myself.

With the script written and 3D model created (if needed), I begin laying out blocks of text in Illustrator CC. This is generally when I start to see what visuals I need and what will fit where. It’s a giant puzzle board. You might think I start with grandiose sketches of intricate objects but it’s really with blocks of content scattered around the page that I start to see where the big visuals will go.

I use Flash (since that’s the animation timeline software I know best) to assemble the animated assets over the top of the Illustrator CC-made layout (After Effects CC and Photoshop CC both have timeline elements that I imagine could be used for this, but I haven’t experimented with either). If it’s vector illustration I might draw the frames directly in Flash Professional CC (the Cheetah frames were drawn in Illustrator CC since there are better brush and line quality options).

I export the finished project from Flash CC into Photoshop CC (which has the best compression ability when it comes to the animated GIF format). In Photoshop CC I try to get the file as small as possible, often limiting colors to do so. The cheetah graphic has dimensions of 1400 x 1890 with 18 total frames and rings in at a nimble 500KB. That’s much smaller than many static graphics of the same pixel dimensions; I purposely kept the project to a two-color scheme; as I progress with these projects, I’m getting more adventurous with more colors and weightier file sizes.

You mentioned After Effects. Do you see yourself trying it out down the road?I haven’t actually tried After Effects with these animated infographics so I have no idea what to expect. Also, it looks like Flash is starting to incorporate some HTML5 stuff so I’ll probably stay in Flash since it’s more web-centric and that’s my playing field.

Since you use a range of CC products to make Animagraffs, we have to ask, how are you liking Creative Cloud? I’m loving it—synced settings, seamless upgrades—it’s the kind of functionality I’ve always wanted!

What’s your next topic? I JUST finished Inside a Jet Engine. I hope it’s as well-received as my other projects have been.

Jun262014

This UK serial drama and reality TV creator excels at meeting intense production demands with Adobe Story CC Plus and Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise.

Great stories, brilliantly told

Lime Pictures knows all too well the demanding scheduling and production requirements of daily television. The largest operating group within All3Media, the top UK Ltd indie known for multi-award-winning, long-running TV productions, Lime Pictures produces headline-grabbing programs including Hollyoaks (C4), Rockets Island (CBBC), The Only Way Is Essex (ITV2), and Geordie Shore (MTV).

Each series requires a tightly-orchestrated effort involving syncing shooting schedules with scripts, as well as lock-step coordination among camera crews, sets, and talent. Shows also hinge on great creative, graphics, and video that extend across both TV and online media.

With the popularity and number of programs increasing, the production company’s needs had continued to intensify, and its aging in-house system was struggling to keep up. Lime Pictures needed a more capable, progressive solution and chose Adobe Story CC Plus and Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise.

“We were using legacy applications for scripting and scheduling that were no longer meeting our needs,” says Gary Winn, IT manager for Lime Pictures. “We wanted to modernize our infrastructure and processes and Adobe Story CC Plus and Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise gave us that opportunity.

Advanced scripting and scheduling

Lime Pictures was aware that ITV had adopted Adobe Story CC Plus with great success and the broadcaster’s positive experience factored into Lime Pictures’ decision to adopt: “The solution did 80% of what we needed it to do ‘out of the box’ and we were able to customize the rest to meet our specific needs,” says Winn. “Adobe Story CC Plus was the only product we found that supported continuing series—that functionality was a real jewel for us.”

Adobe Story CC Plus has strong scripting and scheduling capabilities, complemented by product updates delivered through Creative Cloud. The ability to access information at any time and on any device allows teams to easily collaborate, even when they aren’t sitting side by side; it also offers comprehensive reporting, delivering insights that allow Lime Pictures to continually streamline its processes.

“Adobe Story CC Plus is more flexible and open than other scripting and scheduling options on the market,” says Winn. “Because it’s a cloud-based environment, our writers and schedulers can use the software on mobile devices with complete visibility and synchronicity. We have virtually eliminated the need to print scripts by using electronic versions and everyone can tap into the latest amendments to scripts or schedules at any time, from anywhere.”

Improved software access

Another priority for Lime Pictures was to equip employees with world-class creative apps from Adobe in the easiest way possible. Lime Pictures traditionally had a mixture of different Adobe software products and suites with individual boxes and serial numbers. Maintaining the right number of licenses and keeping versions current was often challenging. When Winn learned about Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise, he saw how it would streamline IT and budgeting efforts, simplify deployment, and centralize software management. In addition, the enterprise license enabled Lime Pictures to access additional Adobe Story CC Plus reporting functionality.

“We’re already seeing the benefits of engaging more closely with Adobe through an enterprise arrangement,” says Winn. “The Adobe team is brilliant and has been instrumental in helping us advance the business.” By purchasing Creative Cloud through an enterprise term license agreement, Lime Pictures now has a single source for licensing and support, as well as access to multiple tools. The company’s Creative Cloud for enterprise licenses are used by graphics and digital departments, as well as its post-production facility in Liverpool, England.

Some team members only need Adobe Photoshop CC, while others might need Adobe After Effects CC or Adobe Acrobat XI Pro. Some need almost all of the Adobe creative products. To tailor each user’s environment, Winn is using the Creative Cloud Packager (which provides custom access to software among various team members) to create standard software packages for different groups.

“Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise allows us to control our environment,” Winn says. “The ability to package and deliver specific products to different users saves us time and makes the software easier to track.” Adoption of Creative Cloud for enterprise has also driven the use of new tools across various workflows: For example, the production team is experimenting with new products such as Adobe Prelude CC for ingest, with plans to introduce it into the live environment. The company also has the freedom to begin
using products such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC to support its video production needs.

Streamlined licensing, management, and updates

The company has complete visibility into which licenses employees have and use and budgets are easier to manage. With Creative Cloud for enterprise, Lime Pictures can provide employees with everything they need and track licenses with ease.

“We’re able to keep our stakeholders on the latest software and eliminate version inconsistencies by providing Adobe Creative Cloud updates from a central location and at a regular cadence,” says Winn. “On the business side, Adobe Creative Cloud has given everyone—from IT to finance—a more streamlined approach to software purchasing.”

“Our main driver in moving to Adobe Story CC Plus and Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise was to move the business forward, which we’ve definitely accomplished,” says Winn. “The flexibility, visibility, cost savings, and other benefits that come with an enterprise agreement are tremendous bonuses.”

Jun242014

Now all Creative Cloud members can work well with others. New features in Creative Cloud Files allow you, your clients, and your colleagues to connect and collaborate more efficiently.

What’s New

Invite other Creative Cloud users to collaborate by sharing folders with editing rights. Don’t worry about losing your vision: Recent iterations are tracked; if you don’t like what someone did, revert to another version with the click of a button.

What’s more, collaborative sharing makes distributing creative assets a breeze. With everything loaded in one place you bypass the need for email and, instead, manage team permissions and give each department access to everything they need.

You can also send links to share files and folders with anyone outside the cloud, and retain control by administering read-only rights. Creative Cloud membership is not required for others to view and comment on your high-fidelity preview, so you can quickly collect feedback from all parties, and make things as “jazzy” as they want them.

Get Started

Once you manage and sync files via the Creative Cloud, modifications are automatically downloaded to all connected computers and devices.

Jun232014

Following the June 18 announcements about the 2014 release of Creative Cloud, our team of worldwide evangelists will be kicking off a series of CreateNow events across the globe.

Starting now, we’re kicking off the 2014 CreateNow World Tour with interactive half-day Adobe events in 5 US cities and 32 additional locations led by Adobe user communities. At the same time, we’re taking CreateNow abroad over the summer and into the fall in Europe, Asia/Pacific and Japan.

The events are free, but require sign-up to reserve a spot (details below). Here’s what you can look forward to when you join us at one of our US Create Now Tour events:

They begin with an informal networking hour and a cool feature we call the Device Bar. It’s a chance to play around with Adobe Ink and Slide, the newly-announced Creative Cloud-connected pen and ruler; Adobe Line and Sketch our newest drawing and social sketching apps; and Adobe Photoshop Mix, a powerful new creative imaging app.

Afterward, we’ll head into our main program with our Adobe experts sharing some of the many updates just added to Creative Cloud. These include some of the hottest new features in Adobe Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InDesign CC, Premiere Pro CC and other desktop products. Our worldwide evangelists know the Creative Cloud inside-out and from every angle, and can answer questions about the applications and membership. This year we’ll be showcasing new creative processes with innovations like 3D printing from Photoshop CC, website design with Adobe Muse, and how to incorporate creativity captured on mobile devices into desktop workflows.

We’ll also share the powerful ways to take Creative Cloud to a collaborative level with features that save time and money (soliciting and providing feedback, creating personal work portfolios, and syncing workflows across devices and between programs) and open up modes of flexibility that can be tailored to individual needs.

We’ll also be bringing in guest speakers from outside Adobe who’ll share some of the ways they’ve used Creative Cloud to further their creative work. We’ll wrap-up by answering questions from the audience. We guarantee that people will leave with new information.

In Chicago, our guest speaker will be artist/designer Chuck Anderson of NoPattern; and in Los Angeles we’ll welcome film/TV producer Mick Ebeling. Keep an eye on the CreateNow events site for the remaining inspirational industry speakers we’ve invited.

CreateNow is designed for creative professionals, photographers and photography hobbyists, illustrators, animators, video professionals, and students—in short, anyone who wants to master new skills in design, web and mobile apps, digital imaging, video editing or use Creative Cloud on the job. It’s also a great way for people to discover the potential of the applications in Creative Cloud.

And for anyone who’s used Creative Suite in the past and isn’t familiar with the advantages of membership, CreateNow is the perfect place to learn more. Adobe Creative Cloud provides instant access to our constant stream of innovations, with new additions every month. What people who’ve attended CreateNow say about it:

“Terrifically put together and very professional and polished…”

“It’s great to see creative luminaries and where they’re going with their work, especially when they’re using the same software we’re using. It means it’s within our reach.”

To many video editors, After Effects CC seems complex and, perhaps, somewhat intimidating: They’d like to add it to their skillset, but don’t know where to begin. That’s why Ask a Video Pro presented “After Effects for Editors” with master trainer Rich Harrington.

In the session, Rich gave a lot of great examples of how After Effects CC can aid editors in their work. Most importantly, he explained that the application is like a Swiss army knife…that editors don’t need to use every part of it in order to add a lot of power to their workflow.

The new Masking and Tracking feature in Premiere Pro is fantastically helpful to editors because it makes it easy to blur out faces, license plates, or product logos as they move through a shot. Rich demonstrated how to expand on that feature in After Effects CC, adding multiple blurs that move in and out behind objects (this alone is worth the price of admission; just kidding, Ask A Pro sessions are free). Then, in addition to how to animate type—handy for creating Live Text templates for use in Premiere Pro CC, Rich also introduced a number of other features:

About the presenter
Rich Harrington is the founder of RHED Pixel, a visual communications company based in Washington, DC. A graphic design and new media expert, Rich has written several books, including An Editor’s Guide to Adobe Premiere Pro and is a popular trainer and presenter at digital media events across the US and around the world.

Jun202014

There’s been so much excitement for the new release of Creative Cloud—the customer response has been simply awesome.

Since introducing it on June 18, we’ve received a lot of requests for the latest Creative Cloud logo. So our Adobe Studio team got to work and made a few versions that can be downloaded and used as wallpaper, an avatar, or in social media profiles.

Jun202014

Over the last few weeks we’ve been slowly revealing the tiles of our Creative Cloud Mosaic. This week, at the #CCNext launch, we unveiled the completed piece; it’s now highlighted both on Behance and on a number of Adobe’s Facebook pages.

We’re really happy with the result and hope you love it as much as we do. We love collaborating with artists in different disciplines from around the world and seeing what they can do when given a challenge.

We’ve done a number of interpretations of our brand over the past several years—beginning with the “Adobe &” project, and several Adobe Remix projects—and the CC Mosaic is another milestone of the type of work we want to do with our creative community as we continue forward.

It’s important to us that the community feels they have co-ownership of the Adobe brand. Working on collaborative projects like this is the perfect way to show off the promise of the Creative Cloud—it allows us to celebrate individual creativity and the infinite possibilities of the creative disciplines.

Jun192014

Adobe Muse CC has come a long way in a short amount of time. Introduced just two years ago, it’s now a native app and a powerful member of Creative Cloud. Check out the features that became available to Creative Cloud members on June 18.

Many graphic designers have the opportunity to design for the web, but they may not have had the time or the desire to learn how to code. Adobe Muse CC enables designers to create sites using rich imagery, engaging interactivity (slideshows and scroll effects), and hundreds of web fonts served by Adobe Typekit. Adobe Muse CC also makes short work of creating mobile versions of websites, collecting customer data using contact forms, and connecting sites to social media like Facebook and Twitter. Sites published with Adobe Muse also meet the latest web standards—they load quickly, function across platforms and popular web browsers, and are search engine optimized.

Adobe Muse is now a native app, like Adobe Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, and InDesign CC, and requires 64-bit hardware, Windows 7+ or Mac OS 10.7+ to access the latest update. Hear from Adobe Muse partner Steve Harris of Muse-Themes about what the native build means for you.

Adobe Muse now supports serial number installs, and no longer requires an Adobe ID or named user, ideal for Enterprise and Education deployments.

Creative Cloud Add-ons mean getting a jumpstart on site designs with downloadable starter files, new widgets, and pre-designed elements—buttons and menus—directly from the Library panel. Get started.

For the 2014 release of Creative Cloud, Adobe Muse was rebuilt to provide a design experience even more similar to that of InDesign and Illustrator; it takes advantage of the latest web browser updates, operating system updates such as Mavericks OS X, plus new hardware like high-resolution Retina displays.

Adobe Muse will now deliver premium learning content in-app from Adobe and some of the world’s best trainers, with fresh tutorials delivered regularly.

The Adobe Muse CC workspace can be customized with a dark or light interface, undocked panels, side-by-side windows and more. Learn how.

Say goodbye to spending time updating live websites. In-browser Editing now works with multiple hosting providers. Get the details.

Jun182014

We’ve been hard at work the last two years to address four key areas of the Creative Cloud you told us to focus on: performance boosts, workflow efficiencies, support for new hardware and standards, and of course innovative features, which we call the Adobe “magic.” If you’ve been hanging on to your old CS disks, waiting for the right time to join the Creative Cloud community, that moment is here. The latest version—available today—is packed with new, truly inventive features that will make it easier to do your work from anywhere, help you do it faster, and let you bring all of those great creative ideas in your imagination, to life.

Read on for the highlights list of what’s new in Creative Cloud, and click through to the product blogs and videos to get a deep dive directly from the teams.

Major updates across our desktop apps

Photoshop CC now has Blur Gallery motion effects for creating a sense of motion, and the recently introduced Perspective Warp for fluidly adjusting the perspective of a specific part of an image without affecting the surrounding area. Focus Mask (did you see the sneak?) makes portrait shots with shallow depth of field stand out, and new Content-Aware capabilities make one of the most popular features even better. We’ve also added more camera support to Lightroom (version 5.5) as well as a new Lightroom mobile app for iPhone. The Photoshop and Lightroom blogs have the full scoop.

The Adobe Illustrator blog has the rundown on what’s new in Illustrator CC, such as Live Shapes to quickly and non-destructively transform rectangles into complex forms and then return to the original rectangle with just a few clicks.

With InDesign CC layout artists can now move rows and columns around in tables by simply selecting, dragging and dropping, which will be a big time saver. The new EPUB Fixed Layout means you can create digital books effortlessly.

The team is rebuilding Adobe Muse CC as a native 64-bit application and it now includes HiDPI display support for sharper-looking images, objects, and text.

Originally previewed at the NAB show in April, new features in our video apps include Live Text Templates, Masking and Tracking plus new integrations that leverage the power of Adobe After Effects CC inside Adobe Premiere Pro CC. It’s better, faster, stronger. Read more on our Pro Video blog.

Dreamweaver CC lets you see your work come to life. You can now view your markup in an interactive tree using the new Element Quick View, to quickly navigate, and modify the HTML structure of pages. The Dreamweaver CC blog has all the details.

Creative Cloud connected mobile apps and new hardware—because our world is mobile.

An entirely new family of connected mobile apps and the hardware (yes, Adobe is releasing hardware) could be the things we all look back on in two years and say, “OK that really changed how I do my work.” These are incredibly powerful apps that start to bring the functionality you get from desktop apps, to mobile. Pros will want to use them, but they’re easy enough that anyone can use them. Get these apps now—they are all free:

Adobe Line, the world’s first iPad app for precision drawing and drafting.

Adobe Photoshop Mix brings the powerful creative imaging tools only found in Photoshop right to the iPad, for the first time. The focus of this release is to be task oriented, so we started with the two most-used features: precise compositing and masking. PS Mix also includes Upright, Content Aware Fill and Camera Shake Reduction—and integrates back to Photoshop CC on the desktop.

The Creative Cloud connected mobile apps complement and enhance the new creative hardware that’s also available now. Adobe Ink (formerly Project Mighty) is a new digital pen that connects to the Creative Cloud, giving users access to their creative assets—drawings, photos, colors and more—all at the tip of the pen. And Adobe Slide (formerly Project Napoleon) is a new digital ruler to create precise sketches and lines. As we talked about previously, these new pieces of hardware “make digital creativity both more accessible and more natural by combining the accuracy, expressiveness and immediacy of pen and paper with all the advantages of our digital products and the Creative Cloud.” Adobe Ink and Slide demonstrate how mobile is now a true partner in the creative workflow.

Creative Cloud services tie it all together so you can work wherever you are.

We all work on multiple devices. We move between desktop or laptop to phone and tablet. Now Creative Cloud is connected to iOS devices, so you can take it wherever you go; your creative identity isn’t just tied to your desk. All of the latest desktop apps, mobile apps and creative hardware are tightly integrated through Creative Cloud services. Simply put, you can now access and manage everything that makes up your creative profile—files, photos, colors, community and so much more—from wherever you are. Get the new Creative Cloud app for iPhone and iPad for full access on your mobile devices.

New offers for photographers, enterprises and education

For our Education customers, we now have a device-based licensing plan for classrooms and labs so more than one person can access Creative Cloud on a single machine. The special student/teacher edition pricing also got a little sweeter, as the full Creative Cloud is now available to them at just $19.99/month for the first year.

There is so much that’s new in the 2014 release of Creative Cloud that you have to take a few minutes to click around, read about the new apps, and watch videos of the new features. Are you a paid member? All of it is available now for you. Have you been considering the move to Creative Cloud? The new versions of the desktop apps you use most have added hundreds of new features since CS6. There really is no better time to join the community.

Jun102014

What used to be done with chemicals and film in a lab can now be done digitally on a laptop. Today’s filmmakers need tools and techniques that allow them to shape their images with artistry and precision. Will Read’s first film project was spoiled by bad telecine work and even worse color grading. He vowed then and there to never again let someone else ruin his images. Today he’s in high demand as a can-do filmmaker with a reputation for delivering stunning image quality.